Runaway bus crashes into vehicles on busy Nicosia street

A runaway bus crashed into several vehicles in central Nicosia’s busy Diagorou Street on Thursday as it rolled forward then nearly crashed into a building after the driver had stopped and got out.

No one was injured but the bus caused havoc as it first hit pavement posts, then a police motorcycle, a moped and two cars parked on the road.

Police said that the rider of the moped just managed to jump off before being hit by the bus.

They are investigating the circumstances behind the freak accident.

It is the fourth incident of ‘moving buses’ in just a month since Nicosia’s public network was taken over by a new contractor.

Last month, a bus driver was crushed to death after getting down from his vehicle for an inspection, after supposedly, stopping.

Transport Minister Yiannis Karousos earlier in July ordered a probe into three incidents in as many weeks to investigating possible safety faults on buses operated by the Cyprus Public Transport company, which took over the Nicosia and Larnaca urban public networks on July 5.

Unions have called for a full investigation to also look into “other factors” such as fatigue caused by the company over-working its drivers, which as they claim, are not adequately trained on the new buses’ safety features.